Difficult question. There are so many different combinations of potential ingredients for smoothies, how do you even start to work out which is the most popular?
You can’t, really.
But when has being confronted with an impossible task ever stopped us before?! While we know that we aren’t going to be able to provide you with a definitive answer at the end of this blog, what we hope to do is offer some insight and inspiration – sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.
So let’s talk about some of the incredible smoothie ingredients that are loved all over the world. We’ll start with a classic:
Is Banana and Strawberry the world’s most popular smoothie?
In a 2019 survey from Statista, they asked participants in the US what they liked to have in their smoothies. There were two stand out ingredients – banana (62%) and strawberry (60%).
Let’s start with bananas. They make a wonderful addition to pretty much any smoothie recipe. They can act as a base, creating a creamy texture on top of the potassium, fibre and vitamins that they bring to the party. Oh, and they taste pretty sweet too. So if you see a banana going brown in your fruit bowl, don’t you even think about throwing it away. It’s time to make a smoothie.
What should go in a banana smoothie? Strawberries. Strawberries bring a lot to the table – not only are they also packed full of health benefits (vitamin C, antioxidants, folate and much more), but these little bundles of sweetness compliment the creaminess of the banana perfectly. Blend them with some almond milk to add in some healthy fats, or add them to a watermelon smoothie for an extra burst of flavour.
A banana or strawberry smoothie is great, but these two ingredients combined create something that is so delicious that it really shouldn’t be good for you. But it really is. Is it any wonder that one of the world’s most popular smoothies is a strawberry banana smoothie?
Why do Mango and Pineapple make a great smoothie?
Next up we have another classic smoothie combination – mango and pineapple. Sometimes this combo will be part of a tropical smoothie, with other fruits like passion fruit, papaya or kiwi, but mango and pineapple will often be at the heart.
There’s a good reason for this – they are both bursting with flavour and goodness. More than that though, they work really well when used together. The creamy, smooth and sweet taste of the mango combines perfectly with the sweet, slightly tart flavour of the pineapple. You can even use pineapple juice as your liquid base if you want an extra kick! The result is a beautifully fruity and exciting smoothie.
Of course it helps that both of these ingredients contain a load of vitamin C and antioxidants, meaning that a mango and pineapple smoothie is also great for your health. When you put this all together, it’s clear to see why tropical smoothies are some of the world’s most popular smoothie flavours – perfect for those hot summer days.
Mixed Berry Smoothies
When you are craving a delicious breakfast smoothie, there are few better than one made from frozen berries.
A lot of this might be down to the aesthetics of mixed berry smoothies. These drinks tend to be red or purple in colour, and did you know that our brains are trained to respond to different colours in different ways? Red food and drink will excite our brains, and can even increase our heart rate – it evokes passion, but also suggests sweetness, which we are instinctively drawn to.
So when you see a raspberry smoothie, for example, there is something buried inside us that is drawn to it – we can’t help ourselves! A mixed berry smoothie, full of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries or even frozen cherries will always be delicious – our brains know this even before our taste buds do!
Add to this the fact that berries are some of the most nutritious ingredients you can add to a delicious smoothie and you can see why mixed berry smoothies are so popular. Try blending it with coconut milk, creamy yoghurt or even a dash of maple syrup and you’ve got yourself a deliciously healthy smoothie.
Are Green Smoothies popular?
The green smoothie has become increasingly popular over the last few years – they are seen by many as a great, and tasty way to incorporate different vegetables into their diet. We all know the benefits of foods like broccoli, cucumber, avocado, kale or spinach, but for whatever reason, they don’t always make it into our meals. So by including them in our smoothie recipes, we can make sure we get all of those amazing benefits.
In 2022 Coventry Direct, an American insurance provider, analysed the favourite smoothie flavour for each of the American states (for some reason..!). Anyway, they discovered that Green Smoothies were the most popular, with 6 different states choosing it as their favourite.
Traditionally, people have been a bit put off green smoothies because of the preconception that they won’t taste very nice. Thankfully, the world is coming around to the idea that this is nonsense. Green doesn’t mean bitter or bland – add in some apple, banana, pineapple or mango, blend it with some apple or orange juice and you’ve got an amazing drink. All the health benefits, and all the flavour. We love to go green with our smoothies.
What are the best selling smoothies in the UK?
According to Statista, there are two overwhelming winners when it comes to best selling smoothie companies – Tropicana (£16.6 million) and Innocent (£14.3 million). These companies have undoubtedly helped to popularise smoothies, which is great, but bottled smoothies have to be pasteurised to keep them fresh, which does limit their health benefits.
It’s obviously better to use fresh or frozen fruit, blended right before you drink it, in order to get the best tasting and most nutritious drink. And the most popular frozen smoothie brand in the UK…?
*blushes*
It’s us – Love Struck. We sold 12 million smoothies last year – equivalent to 2 whole Olympic sized swimming pools. (And yes, we do spend far too much of our time daydreaming about swimming in smoothies.)
So, what are the best smoothie recipes?
Cop out time! The best smoothie recipes are the ones that you enjoy the most. The only limit is your own imagination (we’ve seen a carrot cake smoothie, a peanut butter smoothie and a chocolate smoothie – but we can’t guarantee they’re all good for your health…). We’ve only scratched the surface of the possibilities here, looking at the tried and tested classics that we know for sure are loved all over the world.
If you are looking for more smoothie inspiration, check out our huge range of smoothies – some of the tastiest, most interesting recipes out there, even if we do say so ourselves. All packed full of healthy ingredients, but without compromising on taste, to give you the perfect blend.